San Diego doubled parking meter rates. Here’s what you need to know

Have you noticed less spare change in your wallet?

The City of San Diego just doubled the rate of their parking meters. Residents and workers across downtown, Hillcrest, University Heights, City Heights and Pacific Beach, among others, may have noticed a recent increase in the cost of parking.

The change, implemented on Jan. 31, affected 5,332 metered parking spaces across the city.

More than 4,400 of them were formerly set at $1.25 an hour and are now set to the maximum rate of $2.50. The remainder, which previously charged 50 cents an hour, are now charging $1.

Rates have not changed at metered spaces near the waterfront operated by the Port of San Diego, which were already at the new maximum of $2.50 an hour.

Parking spaces across the city are metered from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on all days except for Sundays and holidays. Port of San Diego parking meters are also monitored on Sundays and have varying enforcement hours.

San Diego City Council considered the change to help address a $258M deficit in the city’s budget. Councilmember Vivian Moreno, who represents many southern San Diego communities, was the only person to vote against the rate raise.

“I absolutely understand the need for greater revenue so we can balance our budget,” Moreno said. “However, when we raise parking rates, we’re impacting everybody in our communities regardless of income.”

The city expects that the change will generate an additional $4M for the 2025 fiscal year, which ends on June 30. Beginning in July, the city expects to make about an additional $9.6M annually.

San Diego is currently charging significantly less for hourly parking than other major California cities, according to a review of parking management and demand presented to the city council.

Sacramento has a current maximum of $4.50 per hour, Los Angeles has a maximum of $6 per hour, and San Francisco has a maximum of $11 per hour, according to the review.

The analysis recommended special event pricing and extended meter parking hours. The recommendations, which may shape future decisions, also detailed how the city could benefit from dynamic pricing, which would raise parking meter rates at busy times of day and lower them for slower traffic times.

“I very much appreciate the community-centered approach,” Councilmember Stephen Whitburn said during the council’s Jan. 1 meeting. “There are nuances in each neighborhood and each business district that the people who are in those areas could best identify and speak to.”

Whitburn represents many of the areas that will be affected by the new rates, including downtown and North Park. He says that while increasing rates could benefit the city, extending the hours of metered parking could be harmful to the residents who live in areas where street parking is the only option.

“In many areas street parting is high in the evening because residents are coming home from work and they are parking there,” Whitburn said. “When they come home from work and they park their car on the street, they should be able to go inside and relax for the evening.”

For now, only the meter rates have been changed.

San Diego City Council said they would consider more changes to parking costs later this year.

Correction: Feb. 12, 2025

This story has been updated to include that parking meters operated by the Port of San Diego charge for parking on Sundays. An earlier version excluded this information.